In its basic form, aptitude's configuration file is a
list of options and their values. Each line of the file
should have the form
“Option
Value
;
”:
for instance, the following line in the configuration file
sets the option Aptitude::Theme
to
“Dselect
”.
Aptitude::Theme "Dselect";
An option can “contain” other options if they are written in curly braces between the option and the semicolon following it, like this:
Aptitude::UI { Package-Status-Format ""; Package-Display-Format ""; };
An option that contains other options is sometimes called
a group. In fact, the double
colons that appear in option names are actually a
shorthand way of indicating containment: the option
Aptitude::UI::Default-Grouping
is
contained in the group Aptitude::UI
,
which itself is contained in the group
Aptitude
. Thus, if you wanted to, you
could set this option to ""
as follows:
Aptitude { UI { Default-Grouping ""; }; };
For more information on the format of the configuration file, see the manual page apt.conf(5).
aptitude's configuration is read from the following sources, in order:
The user's configuration file,
~/.aptitude/config
. This file is
overwritten when the user modifies settings in the
Options menu.
The system configuration file,
/etc/apt/apt.conf
.
Default values stored in
/usr/share/aptitude/aptitude-defaults
.
Default values built into the program.
When an option is being checked, these sources are
searched in order, and the first one that provides a value
for the option is used. For instance, setting an option
in /etc/apt/apt.conf
will override
aptitude's defaults for that option, but will not
override user settings in
~/.aptitude/config
.
The following configuration options are used by
aptitude. Note that these are not the only available
configuration options; options used by the underlying
apt
system are not listed here. See the manual pages
apt(8)
and
apt.conf(5)
for information on apt
options.
Dir::Aptitude::state
/var/lib/aptitude
Aptitude::Allow-Null-Upgrade
false
true
, aptitude will
continue to the preview screen whenever there are
upgradable packages, rather than displaying a reminder
about the → (U) command.
Aptitude::Auto-Install
true
true
,
aptitude will automatically attempt to fulfill
the dependencies of a package when you select it
for installation.
Aptitude::Auto-Fix-Broken
true
false
,
aptitude will ask for permission before
attempting to fix any broken packages.
Aptitude::Auto-Upgrade
false
true
,
aptitude will automatically flag all
upgradable packages for upgrade when the program
starts, as if you had issued the command
U).
→ (Aptitude::CmdLine::Always-Prompt
false
-P
command-line option.
Aptitude::CmdLine::Assume-Yes
false
true
, aptitude will act as
if the user had answered “yes” to
every prompt, causing most prompts to be
skipped. This is equivalent to the
-y
command-line option.
Aptitude::CmdLine::Ignore-Trust-Violations
false
Aptitude::CmdLine::Resolver-Debug
false
true
, aptitude will print
extremely verbose information while attempting to
resolve broken dependencies. As the name suggests,
this option is primarily meant to aid in debugging the
problem resolver.
Aptitude::CmdLine::Resolver-Dump
Aptitude::CmdLine::Request-Strictness
10000
Aptitude::CmdLine::Download-Only
false
true
, aptitude will
download package files but not install them.
This is equivalent to the -d
command-line option.
Aptitude::CmdLine::Fix-Broken
false
true
, aptitude will be more
aggressive when attempting to fix the
dependencies of broken packages. This is
equivalent to the -f
command-line option.
Aptitude::CmdLine::Package-Display-Format
%c%a%M %p# - %d#
-F
command-line option.
Aptitude::CmdLine::Package-Display-Width
""
), search results will be
formatted for the current terminal size, or for
an 80-column display if the terminal size cannot
be determined.
Aptitude::CmdLine::Show-Deps
false
true
, aptitude will display
a brief summary of the dependencies (if any)
relating to a package's state. This is
equivalent to the -D
command-line option.
Aptitude::CmdLine::Show-Versions
false
true
, aptitude will display
the version of a package that is being installed
or removed. This is equivalent to the
-V
command-line option.
Aptitude::CmdLine::Show-Size-Changes
false
true
, aptitude will display
the expected change in the amount of space used
by each package. This is equivalent to the
-Z
command-line option.
Aptitude::CmdLine::Simulate
false
Aptitude::Simulate
instead. In command-line mode, causes
aptitude to just display the actions that would be
performed (rather than actually performing them); in
the visual interface, causes the program to start in
read-only mode regardless of whether you are root
or
not. This is equivalent to the -s
command-line option.
Aptitude::CmdLine::Visual-Preview
false
true
,
aptitude will enter its visual mode to display
the preview of an installation run and to
download packages.
Aptitude::CmdLine::Verbose
0
-v
command-line option adds 1
to this value.
Aptitude::Delete-Unused
true
true
,
automatically installed packages which are no
longer required will be automatically removed.
For more information, see the section called “Managing automatically installed packages”.
Aptitude::Delete-Unused-Pattern
Aptitude::Keep-Unused-Pattern
.
If Aptitude::Keep-Unused-Pattern
is
unset or set to an empty string, the value of this
configuration option will override it. Otherwise,
Aptitude::Delete-Unused-Pattern
is
ignored.
Aptitude::Display-Planned-Action
true
true
,
aptitude will display a preview screen before
actually carrying out the actions you have
requested.
Aptitude::Forget-New-On-Update
false
true
,
aptitude will clear the list of new packages
whenever the package list is updated, as if you
had issued the command → (f).
Aptitude::Forget-New-On-Install
false
true
,
aptitude will clear the list of new packages
whenever you install, upgrade, or remove
packages, as if you had issued the command
→ (f).
Aptitude::Ignore-Old-Tmp
false
~/.aptitude/.tmp
which is no
longer necessary. If the directory exists and
Aptitude::Ignore-Old-Tmp
is
true
, aptitude will ask you
whether to remove this directory. This option is
automatically set to true
after you
reply. On the other hand, if the directory does not
exist, this option is set to false
so that you will be notified if it reappears.
Aptitude::Keep-Recommends
false
true
, then
packages will be kept on the system as long as any
installed package recommends them, even if
Aptitude::Recommends-Important
is false
.
Aptitude::Keep-Suggests
false
true
, aptitude
will keep automatically installed packages on the
system as long as any installed package suggests them.
For more information, see the section called “Managing automatically installed packages”.
Aptitude::Keep-Unused-Pattern
Aptitude::Delete-Unused
is true
, only unused packages which
do not match this pattern (see
the section called “Search Patterns”) will be removed.
If this option is set to an empty string (the
default), all unused packages will be removed.
Aptitude::LockFile
/var/lock/aptitude
Aptitude::Log
/var/log/aptitude
Aptitude::Log
begins with a pipe
character (ie, “|
”),
the remainder of its value is used as the name of a
command into which the log will be piped: for
instance, |mail -s 'Aptitude install run'
root
will cause the log to be emailed to
root
. To log to multiple files or commands, you may
set this option to a list of log targets.
Aptitude::Parse-Description-Bullets
false
true
than when it is
false
.
Aptitude::Pkg-Display-Limit
Aptitude::Recommends-Important
true
true
and
Aptitude::Auto-Install
is
true
, installing a new package will
also install any packages that it recommends.
Furthermore, if this option is
true
, then packages will be kept on
the system if an installed package recommends them.
Aptitude::ProblemResolver::BreakHoldScore
-300
Aptitude::ProblemResolver::BrokenScore
-100
Aptitude::ProblemResolver::Discard-Null-Solution
true
true
, aptitude
will never suggest cancelling all of your proposed
actions in order to resolve a dependency problem.
Aptitude::ProblemResolver::EssentialRemoveScore
-100000
Aptitude::ProblemResolver::ExtraScore
-1
Aptitude::ProblemResolver::ImportantScore
5
Aptitude::ProblemResolver::Infinity
1000000
-Infinity
, it will be
discarded immediately.
Aptitude::ProblemResolver::InstallScore
-20
Aptitude::ProblemResolver::KeepScore
0
Aptitude::ProblemResolver::Max-Successors
0
Max-Successors
nodes have
been generated, successor generation terminates.
Turning this value up might cause the first few
generated solutions to have higher scores; on the
other hand, it might cause each resolver
“step” to take a long time.
Aptitude::ProblemResolver::NonDefaultScore
-40
Aptitude::ProblemResolver::OptionalScore
1
Aptitude::ProblemResolver::PreserveAutoScore
0
Aptitude::ProblemResolver::PreserveManualScore
60
Aptitude::ProblemResolver::ResolutionScore
50
Aptitude::ProblemResolver::RemoveScore
-300
Aptitude::ProblemResolver::RequiredScore
4
Aptitude::ProblemResolver::StandardScore
3
Aptitude::ProblemResolver::StepLimit
5000
Aptitude::ProblemResolver::StepScore
10
Aptitude::ProblemResolver::UnfixedSoftScore
-200
Aptitude::ProblemResolver::UpgradeScore
0
Aptitude::ProblemResolver::WaitSteps
50
Aptitude::Purge-Unused
false
true
and
Aptitude::Delete-Unused
is also true
, then packages which
are unused will be purged from
the system, removing their configuration files and
perhaps other important data. For more information
about which packages are considered to be
“unused”, see the section called “Managing automatically installed packages”. THIS OPTION CAN
CAUSE DATA LOSS! DO NOT ENABLE IT UNLESS YOU KNOW
WHAT YOU ARE DOING!
Aptitude::Simulate
false
root
or not.
This is equivalent to the -s
command-line option.
Aptitude::Suggests-Important
false
Aptitude::Keep-Suggests
instead. Setting this option to
true
has the same effect as setting
Aptitude::Keep-Suggests
to true
.
Aptitude::Theme
Aptitude::Spin-Interval
500
Aptitude::Track-Dselect-State
true
true
, aptitude will attempt
to detect when a change to a package's state has
been made using dselect or
dpkg: for instance, if you
remove a package using dpkg,
aptitude will not try to reinstall it. Note
that this may be somewhat buggy.
Aptitude::UI::Advance-On-Action
false
true
, changing a package's
state (for instance, marking it for
installation) will cause aptitude to advance
the highlight to the next package in the current
group.
Aptitude::UI::Auto-Show-Reasons
true
true
, selecting a package
which is broken or which appears to be causing
other packages to be broken will cause the
information area to automatically display some
reasons why the breakage might be occuring.
Aptitude::UI::Default-Grouping
filter(missing),status,section(subdir,passthrough),section(topdir)
Aptitude::UI::Default-Preview-Grouping
action
Aptitude::UI::Default-Sorting
name
Aptitude::UI::Description-Visible-By-Default
true
true
and hidden if it is
false
.
Aptitude::UI::Default-Package-View
Aptitude::UI::Download-Poll-Interval
50000
Aptitude::UI::Exit-On-Last-Close
true
true
,
closing all the active views will quit
aptitude; otherwise, aptitude will not exit
until you issue the command → (Q). See
the section called “Working with multiple views” for more information.
Aptitude::UI::Fill-Text
false
true
,
aptitude will format descriptions so that each
line is exactly the width of the screen.
Aptitude::UI::HelpBar
true
true
, a
line of information about important keystrokes
will be displayed at the top of the screen.
Aptitude::UI::Incremental-Search
true
true
,
aptitude will perform
“incremental” searches: as you type
the search pattern, it will search for the next
package matching what you have typed so far.
Aptitude::UI::Keybindings
Aptitude::UI::Menubar-Autohide
false
true
, the menu bar will be
hidden while it is not in use.
Aptitude::UI::Minibuf-Download-Bar
false
true
, aptitude will use a
less obtrusive mechanism to display the progress
of downloads: a bar at the bottom of the screen
will appear which displays the current download
status. While the download is active, pressing
q will abort it.
Aptitude::UI::Minibuf-Prompts
false
true
, some
prompts (such as yes/no and multiple-choice
prompts) will be displayed at the bottom of the
screen instead of in dialog boxes.
Aptitude::UI::New-Package-Commands
true
false
, commands such as
→ (+) will have the same deprecated
behavior that they did in antique versions of
aptitude.
Aptitude::UI::Package-Display-Format
%c%a%M %p %Z %v %V
Aptitude::UI::Package-Header-Format
%N %n #%B %u %o
Aptitude::UI::Package-Status-Format
%d
Aptitude::UI::Pause-After-Download
OnlyIfError
true
, aptitude
will display a message after it finishes downloading
packages, asking you if you want to continue with the
installation. If it is
OnlyIfError
, a message will only be
displayed if a download failed. Otherwise, if the
option is set to false
, aptitude
will immediately proceed to the next screen after
completing a download.
Aptitude::Preview-Limit
Aptitude::UI::Prompt-On-Exit
true
true
,
aptitude will display a confirmation prompt
before shutting down.
Aptitude::UI::Styles
Aptitude::UI::ViewTabs
true
false
,
aptitude will not display “tabs”
describing the currently active views at the top of
the screen.
Aptitude::Suppress-Read-Only-Warning
false
false
, aptitude
will display a warning the first time that you attempt
to modify package states while the program is in
read-only mode.
Aptitude::Warn-Not-Root
true
true
,
aptitude will detect when you need root
privileges to do something, and ask you whether
you want to switch to the root
account if you
aren't root
already. See the section called “Becoming root
” for more
information.